A friend whose ranch is a bit north of us once said, as he was searching for someone to work on his ranch “these young guys come in wearing spurs thinking to be a’horseback all day every day, but around here we don’t ranch in the traditional sense, we do more “Cow farming!”

Ranching was once described as a form of cattle production where one uses nothing more mechanized then a wheel barrow. Here in central Texas we frequently find ourselves running two tractors in a hayfield, and one has a highly sophisticated computerized round baling system in it. We have to make hay to get through the winter. So I’ve compiled a chart to describe the distinction between ranching West of I-35 and East of I-35. Ranching

• Wheelbarrow
• West of I-35
• Horses and dogs to gather cows
• “Cake”
• Use of lariat
• Several skilled cowboys
• Community event

Cow farming

• Two closed cab computerized John Deere tractors
• East of I-35
• Four wheelers and sack of cubes
• “Cubes”
• Use of chute
• Wife and kid
• Not a community event

Well, we live near I 35 so our operation is sort of mixed, but I do have two John Deere tractors – and they have cabs! But we still rope and drag to the fire. We “cake” every few days. Then put out round bales.  

I do use my wife and kids. And sometimes go a’neighborin’, that community event where we work for each other doing cattle work. Our fiesta is usually jalapeño cheeseburgers from Sonic.